Fun in the Sun

The sun came up yesterday morning and what a gorgeous site it was.  Look at all the sunlight hitting the driving range tee.  The driving range tee was built in 1989 and ever since it was constructed it never received morning sun due to the mature stand of fir trees to the east. So what's different today?  The difference is today the Club has a Tree Management plan which puts an emphasis on preserving the native oak trees.  That stand of firs east of the practice tee was choking out a beautiful grove of oak trees.  Per the Tree Management Plan, those invasive fir trees have now been removed and the oaks have been released giving them a chance to live maybe another 500 years.
As a bonus we get a lot more sunlight and air flow on the turf surrounding this area.  More sunlight on the driving range tee is critical for divot recovery, but even better will be the added sunlight for the 3rd green.  Here's a couple pictures showing how #3 looked before the project how it looks today.

As you can see there are still plenty of trees behind #3 if your one of those that likes trees as a backdrop.  The project behind #4 was also completed this week and again this was a huge success.  Here's a couple pictures showing before and after on #4.

Now when you're standing on #4, there's a great view up the 5th hole and of course the putting surface now has better air flow and at least an hour more of direct sunlight.  An hour of sunlight might not sound like a lot but it can be the difference between a good putting surface and a great one. 

So we had a great week bringing in more sunlight to the property, but with the presence of some sunny weather we also had the opportunity to make progress on the new 12th tee. 

 The entire teeing ground is now sodded and next week we hope to bring in some rough sod to cover most of the dirt you see around the teeing ground.  

Here's a picture of the project from behind the 11th green.  The whole thing is really coming together.  It will take some time and a lot of sand topdressing to get it smooth but I couldn't be happier with how it's looking.  We should be opening it for play very soon.